


Everything has changed

by Ghost_Writer86



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2020-01-31 14:09:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18592849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Writer86/pseuds/Ghost_Writer86
Summary: After the kidnap Juliana left now years later destiny will make her cross paths with Valentina again, just this time they are older and it will be through their children that they will get to know each other again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first to chapters of this story were thought and published as one shots so they will stay like that.

Little Esme smiled as she played with her good friend León, the little boy with blue eyes was making funny faces to make his brown eyed friend giggle.

The two little kids had been friends since the first day of school, when Esme has sat down next to him and had claimed they would be best friends forever, León had just nod and in all his shyness accepted this.

So of course from that second on they had been inseparable.

The teacher smiled as she saw the two little kids, now Esme was pretending to fight a dragon with a cardboard sword with León as her second in command.

The continued playing making stories and actually having their classmates join.

The room was filled with laughter and joy even the teacher joined in in a moment declaring the winning side Knights of the classroom, because she was obviously the queen of said classroom.

Soon it was time for the children to return home, the teacher guided them to the front door were parents waited for them.

Esme and León walked hand in hand towards the two women waiting for them, they hugged before parting ways, León towards his mother Valentina the CEO of Carvajal Group and Esme towards her mother Juliana a famous fashion designer.

Esme saw her mother smile towards León´s mom who waved at them before climbing into her car, she then saw León waving at her so she waved back with a big smile on her face, before settling into her own car and talk her mother´s ear off about all the adventures she had at school, watching her mother smile with every story as they made their way home.

In León´s car was not different he told his mother about the dragon and how now he was a knight and his mom just like Esme´s smiled through it all and congratulated him.

What neither of the two children knew was that in their mothers ‘mind was one thing and that was how destiny always had  a way to bring them together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Esme and Juliana talk about Esme's other mother.

Esme sighed as she stared at her family drawing, her Ma Juliana, she and her mommy Natalia with angel wings.

  
She pouted and felt tears prickling her eyes, she missed her mommy, she had gone to heaven a year ago and it had broke Esme and her ma’s hearts, that is why they had come back to Mexico so her grandma could help her ma.

  
“Esme, dinner is ready” her ma’s voice came through the room, the little girl turned around to see her standing at the door a smile on her face which disappeared when she saw Esme’s tears falling down her cheeks.

  
“What’s wrong Pulguita?” Juliana asked as she rushed towards her child, picking her up and holding her tight kissing the top of her head.

  
“I miss mommy” Esme said her voice sounding so little and broken that made her mother’s heart ache.

  
“I miss her too” Juliana said letting her own tears fall down her face. Natalia had been a blessing in her life the moment she had felt more lost she had met that incredible woman.

  
“I miss her bedtime stories” Esme said and her mom smiled sadly as the image of her wife lying next to their child making voices for each character filled her mind.

  
“I miss her voice and how she used to sing while making breakfast for us” Juliana said.  
Esme smiled a little she could still remember that but she was afraid that one day she would forget her.

  
“I don’t want to forget mommy” Esme replied her eyes filling up with tears again.

  
Juliana held her tight again and said “I will not let you forget her”.

  
She slowly made her way to the living room with Esme still in her arms.

  
Once they reached their destination she let the little girl on the couch and then made her way to where they had all their movies.

  
She pulled a box and walked back to her daughter.

  
“Whenever you feel like you are forgetting mommy you can come here and pick this box” she said as she sat down and opened said box.

  
Inside there were multiple dvd’s with labels that explained the date and the names of the people involved.

  
“This is some of our story, you are in here too” Esme’s eyes widened and then she smiled.

  
“She will always be with us no matter that she is not here” Juliana said and Esme nodded.

  
“Can we watch one now?” the little girl asked eagerly.

  
Juliana smiled and nodded as she watched her pulguita run towards the dvd player and putting the first dvd.

  
Soon Natalia’s voice with the spanish accent that had enamored Juliana filled the room and both the designer and her daughter felt safe and happy.

  
The rest of the night was spend watching dvd’s and Juliana telling Esme stories about her mommy.

  
Those were the moments Esme would cherish the most once she grew up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a look on what Valentina's life is with her wife and León.

Valentina sighed as she stared at the door of casa Carvajal, some nights she just didn’t want to walk in, but she did for her son.

She took a deep breath and finally opened the door expecting León to come running from the tv room, but to her surprise there was no one.

She frowned and made her way to the mentioned room, maybe he had fallen asleep or was to focused on some cartoon.  
Just before she reached her destination, Silvina saw her “Mi niña” she said, Valentina turned to look at her.

“Where is León?” she asked , Silvina stopped on her tracks and avoided looking at her.  
“Silvina” Valentina said as she waited for a response.

The older woman sighed and finally said “ he is grounded in his room, la señora Amalia, got upset with him because he left a lego piece in the living room”.

Valentina raised an eyebrow, she couldn’t understand how a simple lego piece was enough to ground a little six year old boy.  
“How long has he been in his room?” she asked her voice trembling with the effort of controlling her temper.

“Like an hour after he got home from school” Silvina said as she fiddled with the tray she had in her hands.

Valentina’s jaw moved in the way it always did when she was really angry or upset.

“Did she let him had dinner at least?” she asked.

One time when León was around four, Amalia had gotten angry because the little boy had put his tiny hands filled with chocolate in one of her stupid coats, so she had grounded him, not letting the staff gave him dinner, it was until Valentina had arrived around one in the morning from work and had found out her son hadn’t ate dinner.

To say Valentina was angry at the time was a understatement, so since then the staff knew to never listen to Amalia.

Silvina moved the tray she had in her hands “I actually just gave him his dinner”.

Valentina nodded and took a look at her watch, it was just nine, “I’ll go check on him then”.

Silvina nodded and made her way to the kitchen, meanwhile Valentina tried to calm down.

She felt her heart heavy, she was sick and tired of her relationship with her wife.

As she made her way upstairs she stared at the door of the room she used to share with her wife, Valentina had moved back to her old room around the time León had turned three so for three years she had been just the roommate of the woman she was supposed to love until dead did them apart.

She walked pass the door and made her way to León’s room.

She smiled at the door, his name was written on the board hanging on the door and a book quote, every morning Valentina will put a quote of a different book just to cheer him up before he went to school.

She walked in and found him reading, he had learned how to read on his own when he was four, so it wasn’t a surprise, he looked up and smiled big before jumping out of his bed and rushing towards her.

“Hey little lion” she said hugging him tight and then ran her hand over his messy blond hair.

“Hi mommy, how was your day” he asked as he guided her towards his bed pushing his glasses over his nose.

“Well I had a lot of meetings and you know the usual business stuff, what about your day?” she asked after she sat down.

He told her everything he had done in class and how he and Esme had pretended to be wizards, Valentina laughed and smiled as she hear his stories.

By the time he finished both were lying on his bed and after a moment he got serious, his expression was sad.

“Mom hates me” he said and Valentina felt her heart break.

“She doesn’t hates you” she tried to contradict him thought she wasn’t so sure herself and it was obvious that he noticed.

“She does” he knew his mom Amalia didn’t liked him but as of late he felt like she really really disliked him and he didn’t knew why.

Valentina hugged him tight “its just that your mom doesn’t know how to be a mom” she tried to assure him.

“I wish Esme’s ma was my mom” he said yawning and closing his eyes.

Val’s heart stopped in her chest as she ran her fingers through his messy hair before she whispered to a sleeping León “I wish she was your mom too”.

She lay there until she felt asleep thinking about how different her life would had been if she had gotten her dream come true.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mother´s day causes drama between León and Esme

León stared at the two cards Esme had made for Mother´s day, as far as he knew Esme´s other mommy wasn´t with her anymore.

“Why did you made two cards?” he asked, he didn´t want to be mean he just didn´t understand.

Esme looked at him and said “one for my Ma and one for my mommy and I will make a third and fourth for my grandma Lupita and for my grandma Lena”.

“But, your mommy won´t see the card” he tried to explain.

Esme turned to look at him, clearly angry and yelled “The fact that my mommy is not here doesn´t mean I have to forget her and that I shouldn´t make her a card she was a good Mommy, the best and she loved me not like your mom”.

León´s eyes widened and he began crying just like Esme was doing, the whole classroom got quite as they saw the two best friends fight for the first time since they had met and the school year had started.

León got up from the table and walked towards the miss “I don´t want to sit close to Esme ever again” he said between sobs the teacher looked at both kids, she knew both had a difficult family life and she was sad to see them fight but she knew at some point it was going to happen.

“You will sit here with me, ok?” she said as she stood up and then went to talk to Esme, who hadn´t moved from her sit and had gone back to work on her cards.

“Esme, you shouldn´t had said what you said, I´m sure León didn´t mean anything bad with what he said” the teacher said.

Esme crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes before she said “Well next time he should keep his comments to himself “.

The teacher sighed and stood up walking towards her desk where León was finishing his only card, she then send a text to their mothers.

Valentina was surprised when she got the message, Juliana was not, like Natalia had said multiple times “I gave birth to a mini Juliana Valdés”, so she knew at some point considering her daughter temper she would get a message, to be honest it was amazing how long it took to get it.

Both women arrived in time, one dressed formal being a CEO was a serious matter, while the other was in jeans and a t-shirt after all her studio was in her house so no need to drees up, they politely acknowledge each other and waited outside the classroom, they saw some kids leave and their whispering of “Oh I think Esme is in trouble” and “León shouldn´t had asked that”, so both women were intrigued as to what their kids had done.

Finally they saw Mrs. Ramírez walk out and smile sadly at them “come in” she said motioning for both to get in the classroom, Valentina walked in first followed by Juliana.

Both watched their kids sitting in different sides of the classroom, something they weren´t expecting since for the second they met they had been attached to the hip.

“Please take a sit” Mrs. Ramírez  said.

After they did, the teacher told them what had happened, Juliana raised an eyebrow and looked over to Esme, who returned the raised eyebrow.

Valentina looked at León who seemed sad and pouted, then she looked at Juliana who now raised both eyebrows.

“Could you talk to them, they are really good friends” Mrs. Ramírez said before she was interrupted by Esme “He is not my friend anymore” this only made León start crying again.

Both mothers stood up and went to their kids.

“Esmeralda María Valdés Alcántara” Juliana said as she got closer to her kid, in that moment Esme knew her Ma, meant business so she sat up straight.

Valentina looked at them for a moment almost laughing about the fact Juliana has used the little girl´s full name to let her know she was not happy.

She on the other hand moved to sit next to her kid and hugged him.

“I didn´t mean to upset her mommy” he said sobbing the second she sat, she rubbed his back and said “I know, maybe you should just keep that thought to yourself, remember what I had told you about how for some people certain things are sensible subjects”.

He nodded and sighed “I should apologize, but still what she said was mean” he pouted, Valentina smiled and nodded then looked over to see both Juliana and Esme sitting with their arms crossed and having a conversation that seemed to consist of both of them raising their eyebrows and talking mostly with their eyes, which was kind of funny, then she heard.

“Esmeralda you go there and apologize I know he made you upset but he didn´t mean to, what you said was mean and you shouldn´t had said it” Juliana admonished her kid as she stood up, making a gesture with her hand for Esme to get up and follow her.

Esme stood next to the table were a pouting León and Valentina stood too “I´m sorry I didn´t mean to hurt you, it´s just that you shouldn´t had said that about my mommy, I don´t hate you I just dislike you right now and I think we should give ourselves time to heal” Valentina raised her eyebrows and looked at Juliana who was trying to keep a straight face before she said “She got all that speech from Nat”, Valentina smiled, nodded and then looked at León.

“I don´t hate you either and I know I shouldn´t had said anything, I´m sorry and I think that you are right we should take time” this time was Juliana who looked at Valentina and both tried to stop themselves from laughing, though Valentina couldn´t help it and had to cover her laugh with a cough.

“Good” Esme responded and then extended her hand and León shake it, then she walked out of the room.

The three adults in the room looked after the little girl, Mrs. Ramírez and Valentina looked at Juliana, who finally sighed and ran a hand through her hair before looking at the ceiling  and saying “And you said you had given birth to a mini version of me, she is all you woman” she then smiled and walked out.

Mrs. Ramírez and Valentina laughed at Juliana´s reaction and then walked out of the classroom too.

It took the kids only a day to be friends again it seemed they had that in common with their mothers, being upset and away from each other wasn´t an option.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentina and Juliana speaks for the first time without their kids around.

Valentina found herself out in the balcony, her blue eyes scanned the city below her, the smoke of her cigarette swirled around her, she hated this parties where she had to pretend to care for the frivolous people around her and she and Amalia had to spend time together.

She wanted to be free of all that but she had chosen this life, the only good thing she had gotten out of it was León, he had been her saving grace.

She knew she had made the choice of getting married just because she had hear that Juliana had most likely moved on, she had been childish and stupid but she was so afraid of actually end alone just like Eva had told her that just a month after dating Amalia she had proposed.

She inhaled the cold air and sighed 

“Hard night?” the voice of the person she had fallen in love so many years ago made her jump and drop her cigarette.

“Jesus” she said once she recovered, “didn’t your parents ever told you that sneaking into people was impolite?” she asked turning to face the other woman who shrugged and took her breath away.

“I’m pretty sure that being sneaky was part of my dad’s job” she responded shrugging again.

Valentina raised an eyebrow “you shouldn’t be joking about that” she said thought she was smiling and keeping herself from bursting out laughing.

“Well like my mother in law says ‘If you don’t laugh of your misery you will take it too seriously’” Juliana said with a soft smile on her lips.

This sobered Valentina remembering how her family except for her brother had reacted about Juliana, with that smile and that quote it was obvious she had a good relationship with her wife’s family.

Trying to hide the hurt she felt she looked back to the city “she seems to be a wise woman” she replied.

“Oh, she is, I think now you know where my pulguita got it from” Juliana walked closer a big smile reaching her lips at the mention of her child.

The two women stood there looking at the city for a few seconds without saying nothing and to Valentina’s surprise it wasn’t awkward.

“So, hard night?” Juliana asked again.

After a few seconds Valentina spoke “Hard night, hard life” She felt the weight she didn’t knew she was carrying fall harder on her shoulders.

Juliana looked at her with an understanding nod but a sad expression.

“I just thought it would be different” Valentina sighed frustrated.

“When I thought about being married and having kids I always saw myself with someone I loved and that we would have some silly happy ending” she continued.

“Val, why did you got married if you didn’t loved your wife?” asked Juliana a bit confused, all those months they had known each other when they were young had made her believe that Valentina would never got married if she wasn’t in love but then again the girl had been in a toxic relationship with Lucho for many years, so maybe jumping into a loveless marriage wasn’t that far fetched.

Valentina stiffened for a second and if Juliana had noticed she did a really good job hiding it.

“I didn’t want to be alone” she said, she did that thing with her jaw that always gave away that she was nervous or annoyed so Juliana just nodded.

They stood there in silence taking in the city.

Finally Juliana checked her wrist watch and sighed “Well this is my cue to leave” she said.

Valentina immediately looked at her watch it was not even ten.

“Its early” She hated that she sounded almost panicked.

“Yeah, but I dislike this events and my Pulguita and I have an early flight” Juliana said as she moved towards the doors.

“Oh! Didn’t knew about that, but would explain Leo’s puppy dog eyes anytime I mention Esme” to be honest Valentina hadn’t be at home that much as of late due to work.

“Yeah, we are going back to Spain, we are going to my parents house” Juliana explained.

“You bought a house for your parents?” Valentina was confused she knew Lupe and El Chino weren’t together.

Juliana laughed and shook her head “Sorry” she said when she noticed Valentina frowning, “I'm talking about my father and mother in law” she explained.

“Oh! So you have a good relationship with them?” Valentina felt stupid to ask that.

“I do actually with all of Nat’s family, they pretty much adopted me even before we started dating” Juliana said.

“That’s nice” Valentina could only remember how Eva had been around Juliana and she felt her heart break.

“Well I really have to go, it was nice talking to you and I’ll see you around” Juliana said before walking away, leaving Valentina behind once again.

The younger Carvajal walked back to her spot in the balcony and after a few minutes she looked down just to see Juliana get in her car and leave.

Standing there Valentina couldn’t help but feel lighter and even though that night she went back home with Amalia she felt happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentina gets a glimpse of what Juliana's life was after she left.

Valentina had been happier the last couple of days, not even Amalia had been able to put her down.

  
It was crazy how just a simple conversation had made her change her mood and feel lighter.

  
The fact that she and Juliana had shared some time together was amazing , she had never thought that would be possible but it had happened it had been real.

  
She smiled as the image of Juliana filled her mind, she felt more like that 21 year old, the one who had experienced her first love, it was silly but she felt better.

  
She then decided to do something she had never done and that was check Juliana’s social media, to be honest at the time it had never occurred to her that the girl could had been active after all she was running from very dangerous people and she had never asked about Val’s accounts so the younger Carvajal had opted to believe that she had none.

  
But now being a famous designer she sure most had to be present so she now felt like a silly fan, she first checked her twitter account that was mostly work related stuff some bts, photoshoots, pictures of magazines covers and actors and actresses wearing her designs, so not much was there.

  
She checked her Facebook account it was more of the same and Val was surprised to find a picture of them from back in the day she felt her heart beat fast when she scrolled through the pictures, it was a from Guille’s party.

  
She noticed that there were some likes and a few comments made recently of people wondering if they were just friends or something more, but mostly people just surprised about them knowing each other prior to Juliana being famous.

  
Somehow this made Val a bit sad because in all honesty they had never set their relationship status, she could never tell anyone she had once dated the greatest designer of her generation.

  
She choose to check Instagram then, she decided to check the first pictures Juliana had posted first, most of them were in the trailer park she once lived, with captions about how one day she would get away from there.

  
Others were in México, never setting the location but pretty telling of all the places she had lived with Lupe when they had got there, Silvina’s house and then a picture of Val she didn’t even knew Juliana had taken, it was from somewhere around the time after their second kiss, when they had first spoke about Camilo, she had been so happy then.

  
She then noticed that after that picture Juliana didn’t updated her account until a year later and this time it was a picture of her and a group of people the caption read _“Family not by blood but by choice”_ the group consisted of girls and boys, Juliana was between a guy with messy blonde hair and dressed like a hippie and a girl with short brown hair who had a child like smile, Juls was smiling too, her hair longer than the last time she had seen her at the time.

  
There was a video of Juls and the hippie guy singing on the street, the guitar case open on the floor, you could hear someone say _“she is so talented”._

  
Then there was a video of them celebrating Juliana’s 19th birthday, laughter and a huge guy with brown hair carrying her around yelling _“its her birthday and we will get shitfaced”._

  
As she scrolled through the pictures she saw multiple things she would had loved to do with her, parties in Amsterdam, trips to Paris and so on.

  
She too could see Juliana falling in love again, the short haired girl was Natalia, captions changed in two years from _“the friends we love”_ in a picture of them making silly faces, to _“the songs that fill our hearts”_ in a video of them singing Never Enough to _“When your heart knows there is not turning back”_ That was a caption for a picture of them kissing in what was Juliana’s 21st birthday.

  
And just a year later pictures of their wedding with Lupita and Francisco in them, Juliana waiting at the altar, all of that Valentina had dreamed for them.

  
And just that same year Juliana getting closer to finish her career as Natalia started her own business, and around a year and a half later around the time Juls turned 23 the announcement of their baby.

  
The videos and pictures of Juliana and Natalia through out the pregnancy made Valentina feel sad and empty, she hadn’t had that she had pretty much faced her pregnancy on her own because Amalia could care less.

  
She finally closed the app she had even checked Natalia’s IG, she was a talented woman a singer actress, artist and a business woman that Valentina would had liked to meet, and it was obvious she had loved her wife and daughter so much it was sad to know she had died so young.

  
Valentina was envious though Natalia had gotten what Val had dreamed of and she couldn’t help but regret not going after Juliana when she had found out where she was even Lupe had told her to go, she had wanted to go but at the end she had decided not to.

  
At least Juliana had found a person who had loved her and was happy with her life.  
Valentina couldn’t be upset about that.

  
For a moment the cloud that had been following her since Juliana left came back and settle over her until a text message reached her.

  
“Sorry, forgot to tell you that Lupe wants asked me to tell you she will have a party for Pancho’s birthday, when Esme and I return, you can bring Leo it will be family friendly”.

  
Valentina couldn’t help but smile, Lupe could had told her as they had kept in contact through the years as both of them missed Juliana but she was thankful that the older woman was giving her a second chance to be part of Juliana’s life.

  
She smiled and answered with a thank you and a “I will check my schedule”, she didn’t got an answer but she was still happy again.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its Panchito's party and the kids choose to have a sleepover, also Valentina meets Juliana's in laws and learns more about what she did in Spain.

Valentina fixed her shirt for the twentieth time as she waited for the door to open, she was at Lupe’s house for Panchito’s birthday, next to her was an over excited León.

  
He had been waiting to see Esme before the school started so he couldn’t wait much longer.

  
As the door opened Valentina was expecting to see Juliana or Lupe instead she saw a woman with brown hair, with kind eyes and a soft smile.

  
“Sorry I think I got the wrong house” Valentina said as she started to move to turn around.

  
“Are you here for Francisco’s party?” the woman asked, the younger woman nodded so the smile widened a bit more.

  
“Then you are at the right place” the woman said, Valentina could here the Spanish accent and wondered who this person was as the woman moved to let her and León walk in.

  
“Everyone is in the backyard” the woman said and then proceeded to guide them to the place, you could here music and children laughter, Valentina noticed the change of attitude in León as he felt intimidated by other kids, so she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed to reassure him.

  
Just then Esme came running and giggling with another kid “Hey León how are you?” she said hugging him.

  
León smiled and hugged her back “Come on lets play” she said dragging him towards the other kids.

  
Valentina heard the laugh behind her “She is so much like my Natalia at that age” the woman said.

  
As Valentina turned to look at her it hit her that this was Juliana’s mother in law.

  
“Oh!” Valentina exclaimed and the woman smiled again.

  
“I guess I should introduce myself, I’m Magdalena Navarro de Alcántara, Juliana’s mother in law” she said holding her hand out.

  
Valentina took the offered hand and said” Valentina Carvajal, León’s mother”.

  
Magdalena smiled and continued “I know, Pulguita loves to talk about him and Juliana told me all about you when we first met”.

  
Valentina’s eyes widened so comically that made Magdalena laugh.

  
“Believe me, all were good things” she said patting the younger woman’s shoulder.

  
In the backyard Panchito was standing next to the grill as a man taller than him cooked some burgers and hotdogs and some beef, other guys were there talking cheerfully, with bottles of beer in their hands.

  
Some kids were playing in the pool, Leo, Esme and another girl were standing next to the pool talking.

  
Panchito’s older daughter seemed annoyed sitting on her own but staring at a boy who was talking to Juliana in a group that consisted of other three people one girl that looked around her 20’s and just like the boy looked like a model, the huge guy Valentina had seen in the IG’s posts of Juliana and the blonde guy who too had been in the IG.

Lupe looked uncomfortable talking with a group of women that Valentina guessed were neighbors.

  
When Lupe noticed her she immediately made her way to her “Valentina, mija, how are you” she hugged her and Val couldn’t help but smile.

  
“Hey! Big party” Valentina said as they parted.

  
Lupe rolled her eyes and sighed, “the idea was a small gathering” she looked really upset.

  
Just then Valentina saw Juliana get up from where she was and then noticed one of the neighbors checking her out, her blood boiled.

  
Juliana didn’t even noticed the guy as she made her way towards Magdalena, Valentina and Lupe.

  
“Hey! Good to see you could make it” she said, she kissed Valentina’s cheeks and then turned to Magdalena.

  
“Mom, did you bring one of the bottle of your wine?” she asked, Magdalena smiled and nodded “in the kitchen, kiddo” she responded.

  
Juliana’s smile widened and went to the kitchen.

  
Valentina could see the hurt in Lupe’s face.

  
Magdalena didn’t noticed so she continued talking “She loves our wine since she worked on the vineyard”.

  
The other two women looked surprised, they didn’t knew that.

  
“I didn’t knew she worked on a vineyard” Lupe said.

  
“She did after she stopped working as a waitress she was my assistant” Magdalena shared.

  
“So the vineyard is yours?” Asked Valentina, the older woman nodded.

  
Just then Juliana returned with a bottle and four glasses she sat down with them.

  
Valentina took the bottle and read the label “Heart of Barcelona” funny enough this was one of her dad’s favorites.

  
She huffed a laugh and the other three women looked at her curiously.

  
“My dad loved this wine” she said with a surprised expression she knew León sr. Had tried to find a way to meet with the owners and now here she was about to share a glass with one of the owners.

  
“Really?” Magdalena laughed at the coincidence “the world is actually a napkin” she concluded.

  
They spoke about a lot of stuff both Valentina and Lupe learning something new about what Juliana had been up to in Europe.

  
They learned more about the people around her and about her relationship with Natalia, it was obvious that it hurt Lupe a lot not knowing certain things or watching her daughter have the parent-daughter relationship she was supposed to have with her And El Chino with her in-laws.

  
Valentina learned that Juliana’s father in law was named Andrés that he was a pretty gentle and kind man, that the model like young men and girl Juliana had been previously talking were her sister and brother in law and that the huge guy was actually Natalia’s twin brother and father of two of the kids that were playing with Esme and León, he was a single parent as his gf had wanted nothing to do with the kids once they had been born, the blonde guy was english he was a musician, his name was Harold Watson and he had been the first friend Juliana had made, he was gay too and he had helped Jules a lot.

  
At some point of the party Valentina had gone inside to get some water just as she came back out she saw Juliana staring down to the guy that had been looking at her all day and finally with a firm voice and loud enough for everyone to hear she said.

  
“Dude, get it through your head I’m a lesbian so I’m not interested in you, I won’t be interested in you ever and no, the 2 inches of meat dangling between your legs won’t magically turn me straight” the guy’s eyes open wide, his friend laughed and yelled “I told you so dude it was all over the magazines”.

  
The guy left after that, when the party was over an still hyped León and a giggling Esme along with her two cousins came closer to the women sitting at a table, Juliana’s sister and brothers in law along with Harold had left to go check the night life of the city.

  
The four kids looked at them and Esme asked her mom “Mami, can León stay tonight in the sleepover?” .

  
Juliana laughed and said “Well I have no problem with that but I think you should ask his mom” she replied.

  
Valentina only had to look at León’s puppy dog eyes to know she couldn’t say no, but she knew they weren’t ready for a sleepover.

  
“Kiddo we didn’t brought a pajama and your toothbrush or clothes for tomorrow “ she said, Leo’s face turned sad in an instant, Juliana saw that and said “don’t worry I’m sure Tomatito over there doesn’t mind giving him a pajama and I can give him a toothbrush or if you like Magda and Andrés can take them to my house and I can go with you to get his things”.

  
Valentina could feel her heart beating fast, just the idea of spending time with Juliana was enough for her to say yes.

  
A minute later the kids were on their way to Juliana’s house and she and Valentina were on their way to the Carvajal mansion in Val’s car.

  
The drive was quite the humming of the car almost lulling Juliana into sleep, she rested her head against the window.

  
For a minute Valentina thought the other woman was sleeping until she heard her ask “Does Alirio still works for you?”

  
Valentina was surprised that Juliana still remembered Alirio “He doesn’t, he retired like 5 years ago, his wife got really sick and he wanted to be by her side so I gave him an early retirement” she said as she kept her eyes o the road.

  
“Oh! That is, did his wife..?” Juliana trailed off.

  
“Sadly she did about 10 months after he retired, he is now living with his son” Valentina said she sounded sad.

  
Juliana didn’t said anything for a while until another question came to her mind “So didn’t you had like a 5 drivers or something, why dis no one with you?”

  
Valentina laughed and responded “I do have other people that could drive me around but when its time between me and Leo I rather drive around its more personal, I guess”.

  
“It makes sense, Nat hated chauffeurs and to be honest and even if I had nothing against Alirio I always found them inconvenient hence why I drive myself around even when it makes my team crazy” she said laughing.

  
Val laughed too, after that they spoke about small things.

  
Each one learning something new from the other like Valentina’s apartment inside the Carvajal group or Juliana’s addiction to coffee, the fact that Eva was closer to her freedom or that Milo Natalia’s twin brother and Juliana had a music business on the side of her fashion career.

  
They finally reached the mansion, the security guard was a new one and Val explained how they had fired most of the security staff after what had happened with Johnny.

  
When they walked into the house they were greeted by Silvina who looked confused and a bit odd about having Juliana in the house.

  
With and almost automatic behavior Silvina excused herself and walked back to the kitchen.

  
“Guess she still doesn’t like me” Juliana said laughing, Val looked confused and then said “that was odd , I think she is just surprised that you are here”.

  
Juliana shrugged and followed Valentina up the stairs to León’s bedroom.

  
They started fixing his backpack for the sleepover.

  
“Do you think he will need another pair of clothes and maybe his toothpaste?” Valentina asked, to be honest she didn’t knew what she was supposed to put in the bag.

  
Juliana laughed “Let me guess, first sleep over?”

  
“Yes, as you can see León is not very social, his only friend is Esme” Valentina looked sad about this.

  
“Give him time, not all the kids are the same” Juliana reassured her.

  
“Sometimes I feel its my fault, that he is so shy” the other woman said as she picked one of his shirts.

  
“Val, its not your fault not all kids are social butterflies like for example my pulguita” Juliana picked the backpack.

  
Valentina nodded thinking that maybe indeed it wasn’t he fault.

  
“Come on, I still need to buy junk food” Juliana said as she walked out of the room, just barely avoiding slamming into a blonde haired, green eyed woman.

  
“Oh, sorry!” said Juliana as she moved to stand next to the woman who looked her up and down.

  
Valentina walked out of the room and stared at Amalia “didn’t knew you were home” she said.

  
Amalia slowly moved her gaze from Juliana to Valentina “I just got here, what is going on?” She asked.

  
“Remember that I told you we were going to a party and León was invited to a sleepover just came to pick his stuff” the taller woman explained.

  
“Who invited him?” the tone of her voice was restrained as she once again looked at Juliana who decided to speak “My daughter, Esme, I guess Leo has spoke about her”.

  
Amalia nodded but still seemed uncomfortable for some reason she reminded Juliana of Eva.

  
“I’m Juliana Valdés , by the way” she extended her hand and could see for a split of second surprise reach Amelia’s eyes.

  
A small sound left Amalia’s lips before she took the offered hand.

  
“Amalia Calderon de Carvajal” she said the last part came so forceful that it was like she had to spit it out.

  
“Nice to meet you” Juliana said with a smile, this seemed to ease Amalia a bit.

  
“I will take her back to her house” Valentina said and Juliana added “If you don’t mind”.

  
Amalia shook her head and moved to walk towards her room.

  
“Not at all, tell León to have fun” she said before walking into her room.

  
Valentina relaxed, she was amazed that this hadn’t ended in a full blown fight .

  
Juliana smiled “Wow! She is really pretty”.  
Valentina’s eyes widened as she looked at her.

  
“What? She is” Juliana said as she may her way down the stairs.

  
As they drove to the mall to get the food Valentina spoke again “That was better than I thought”.

  
Juliana looked confuses so she clarified “Amalia is not one easy person she can be a little mean sometimes” .

  
The other woman nodded and then said “She reminded me of Eva”.

  
Valentina frowned and then sighed “oh damn!”

  
This made both of them laugh.

  
When they reached the house Valentina was blown a way it looked like a cabin out of a fairytale, it was beautiful and when she walked in it was even more beautiful it had that cozy family feeling.

  
She left the bags in the kitchen and then went to say goodbye to León who looked more happy than ever.

  
Then it was time to say goodbye to Juliana, they stood outside, for a while smiling as they hear the kids laugh.

  
“Thank you” she said and she didn’t knew if it was for taking Leo for the night or for spending time with her she only felt the need to say it.

  
“Anytime” and Juliana didn’t knew either if she mean to having Leo at her house or spending time together.

  
As Valentina drove away they both knew that from now on they would spend more time together and they both were ok with it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentin returns to her reality after spending time with Juliana

Valentina walked into the mansion finally after the party and her time with Juliana, this night would be weird most weekends she and León would watch movies together and share popcorns until they fell asleep, but tonight he was gone to his first sleepover, she was happy for him but she still felt nostalgic.

Everyone was asleep or at least that was what she thought as she walked into the kitchen she found Amalia sitting there, with a glass of wine, she looked upset.

“Thought you would be sleeping” Valentina said as she took a glass to fill it with water.

“How could I sleep when my wife is out there with her ex-girlfriend, letting our son spend the night God only knows where” Amalia´s jaw was so tense that it looked like it was going to break.

Valentina took a deep breath and set her glass on the countertop, before letting out a bitter laugh.

“Now you worry about our kid, not like that time you made Alirio spend two hours outside a building with my one year old sick child while you screwed some nameless woman “she said looking at her with such a rage that made Amalia shudder.

“That is in the past and this thing you have with that woman is just pathetic, I mean how long had it been and you are still stuck on her” the woman said mocking her wife, she had always thought that and had been waiting to tell her, she always mocked her with her lovers, thought she knew she did that because she was hurt she had expected to make Valentina fall in love with her, still after almost ten years nothing had happened, it was hard to accept that she was nothing but a failed attempt to forget someone else.

Valentina clenched her jaw as she moved towards Amalia “You dare to call me pathetic when you had been in a marriage with someone who will never love you, when you had pretty much sold your pride for a name and a better status”.

Amalia felt like she had been punched in the gut and stood up closing the distance, her hand reaching to slap Valentina, who didn´t even flinched when her hand made contact with her cheek.

Valentina felt her blood boil, but she didn´t move, Amalia walked to exit the room not before turning back and said.

“I really hope Valentina, that for the rest of your days you are as miserable as you make everyone around you feel” then she made her way to her room.

Valentina scoffed and walked behind her “Don´t worry this past ten years had been enough punishment to last me the next five lifetimes”.

Amalia rushed upstairs and to her bed, to think that at some point she had indeed loved Valentina was stupid, she had thought that with time she will make her fall in love, but no she had spent the first two years fighting against a dream that had never come true, she had given up after she had found out that days prior to their wedding Valentina had traveled to Spain looking for Juliana and that whatever she had saw had been the only thing that had pushed her to marry.

She had fought and idealized love, a ghost of something that had never happened, when Valentina had pretty much just informed her that she would have a kid, Amalia had felt like nothing but a stranger to her wife and that had hurt, maybe that was why she had never even tried to connect with León, because he wasn´t hers, he wasn´t her plan, she had nothing against the kid, he was sweet and polite but she couldn´t bring herself to love him like he deserved because she resented his other mother.

She had been stubborn not wanting to get a divorce because she didn´t wanted to be like her mother, she didn´t wanted to have a handful of failed marriages, she wanted to prove she was nothing like her.

She was hurting herself but she couldn´t bring herself to stop, sometimes she still hopped that she and Valentina could work things out that they could fix what from the start was wrong, but she knew better.

She lay crying on her bed until she felt asleep, while Valentina sat downstairs wondering how her life was going to be from that point on.  


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julianan and Valentina spend some time together.

Days after their fight both Amalia and Valentina has choose to ignore one another, for the sake of being calm.

This was something that happened more often than not.

On the other hand the las few days she and Juliana had built some sort of new friendship based on only messages send here and there, but Valentina knew she was playing with fire as her feelings for the designer were still there after ten years as when they were 18 and 21.

She looked at her phone and decided to text the other woman, she read and deleted about five messages before she send the one brief “Want to meet for coffee?”

She left the device on her desk and closed her eyes, she felt like a silly teenager asking her crush for a coffee instead of the confident 31 year old woman she was.

After 20 minutes she thought Juliana wasn´t up to but then a notification came through “Sure, send the address and time”

The CEO of Carvajal group felt her heart beat fast as she send the address and time and then she waited.

The coffee shop was a few blocks from the company so she decided to walk, she had to admit that she was nervous, they hadn´t seen each other since the party.

She decided to sit outside as it was warm afternoon, she was still dressed in her work clothes, a long sleeved white shirt and dress pants, she asked for a muffin while she waited.

Finally 15 minutes later Juliana made walked towards her table, she was dressed in jeans, a crop top and sneakers, her hair was up in a messy bun, she was so beautiful.

“Hey, sorry I lost track of the time” she said as she sat down, “Don´t worry” Valentina said as she smiled up to the woman.

“I have being working in my new collection and at times I can forget time” Juliana commented as she smiled back to her ex.

“I can understand you, sometimes I even sleep at the office because I totally get immersed in my work” Valentina said.

“I used to that when I first started until Nat came into my little studio to camp, after that I learned to balance both, but as of late I have noticed I´m going back to my bad habits, so thank you for getting me out of it” the designer explained as she checked the menu.

After they made their orders they spoke about a few things nothing to personal, just how their weeks were going how the kids were and some other things.

It was an easy conversation, until they touched subject from the past, past Valentina had hold on to.

“So how was everything after I left?” Juliana asked, she really didn´t knew that much.

Valentina took a deep breath, it was hard, because it had been hell and she hadn´t had the woman she loved beside her and that made her resent her for just walking away and not even look back.

“Well, you know Beltrán is your dad, that Lucho died and that Sergio and I were still friend, we actually still are” she said and Juliana smiled at that, she knew it had been horrible what she had done with Sergio and to be honest it had affected her in a deeper level than she had thought but she was happy that Valentina had someone with her.

“After you left I found out Jacobo was actually my dad in your dad´s body, for some reason at some point you and I would had met one way or another” this surprised the designer beyond words. “Wait! What?!” this made Valentina laugh.

“Yeah, believe I was as in shock as you are now” she kept laughing at the surprised and confused expression the other woman had.

“That is crazy! Wait until I tell Lena about it” Juliana laughed, Valentina was confused about this and obviously the other one noticed.

“My family and close friends know everything about El Chino and all that, they even told me there had been some case like that in Spain the sad thing was the man ended in a psychiatric facility” Juliana explained.

“Wow, you must trust them a lot” Valentina said.

“I do, they were the ones that helped me to assimilate everything, actually that is how I found out that Camilo isn´t the only one writing and investigating about the transmigration” Juliana told her.

“That is great and I´m actually happy they helped you, for me was so crazy, I had to spend time with Bárbara to take it all in and Sergio helped a lot as well as your mom and obviously Camilo”  she noticed, the raise in the other woman´s eyebrows as she mentioned her mom.

“It´s funny how Lupe didn´t wanted you around when she found out we were together but she became your friend after we broke up” the designer actually laughed, Valentina only nodded.

“After all that Eva went to jail” this made Juliana´s eyes go wide so Valentina choose to tell her the whole story.

“Gross I can´t believe that she ruined her life for that scumbag, well at least something good came out of it and that is your niece”  Juliana still looked like she wanted to vomit but she was right so Val only nodded.

“Before Eva was arrested, Lucía was killed by Johnny and my dad wasn´t the same after that” Valentina was thoughtful for a moment.

Until she felt a warm hand on her own and she met the brown eyes she had missed so much “I´m sorry, I can only imagine how hard it was” Juliana´s voice was as warm as her hand and Val felt better somehow.

“My dad left after that, he was convinced that Lucía had transmigrated and was going to find her, but after 10 years we hadn´t hear from her” she sighed and felt that loneliness she felt when she saw her dad walk out of the house become more heavy, she missed him and a phone call here and there wasn´t enough.

“Grieve can make us do crazy stuff” Juliana said clenching her jaw, Valentina noticed and decided not to ask, at least not for now.

They both agreed on changing the subject after that.

It was Juliana who brought up her time at Spain.

They were laughing as Juliana recalled a time when Harry and Milo; Natalia´s twin brother, had made a pod with tomato sauce explode and the kitchen of the apartment they shared looked like a war zone for days.

“After that Nat and I didn´t let them enter the kitchen again”,   Juliana wiped some tears from her eyes, it was those moments she cherished the most, they had really changed her life for the better, after spending the first 18 years of her life without anyone to call a friend now she had a group that had become her family.

Valentina laughed and shook her head, she was happy for Juliana, knowing through her and her mother how hard her childhood had been and how lonely it was it was good to know she had found these people.

“It seems you have quite the stories to tell” Valentina laughed.

“Yeah that is just one of my favorites, with that duo” Juliana smiled happily, just then Valentina´s phone started to ring.

The CEO sighed as she saw her brother´s name flashing on the screen, “Damn! I forgot that Guille and Renata were going to have dinner with me and León tonight” she said as she frowned.

Juliana laughed and shook her head “Well then we should cut this reunion now” she commented as she asked for the check.

Valentina was conflicted, she wanted to spend more time with the designer, but she  had promised to spend time with her brother, so she sighed and decided to go with the original plan.

Once they paid Juliana stood up and so did Valentina; the younger woman then went for a hug taking the other by surprise but then hugging her back.

It was short, too short in Valentina´s opinion, but it felt really good.

“I hope we do this again at some point” Juliana said once she let go, she had a soft smile on her face.

Valentina was dazzled by the whole thing and it took her a second to regain her composure, but once she found her voice again she replied “Totally, maybe next time we can have lunch or something”.

Smiling still Juliana said “That would be great” she then started to walk away and turned back to look at Valentina “See you later then” and then she left.

Valentina stood there for a while, the thought of running and asking Juliana to join her for dinner crossed her mind, but the she stopped herself, she sighed when her phone ringed one more time and she finally moved from her spot, thinking where she would take Juliana for lunch next time.

  


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So hi, in this one we will learn more about Natalia and Juliana and well the lunch date won´t go as expected.

The lunch date turned into a play date for the kids, both Juliana and Valentina had been busy so they hadn´t had time to meet up, so one Saturday Juliana had chosen to invite both León and Valentina to her house.

Valentina was in awe when she saw the interior of the house with more attention, the day of the sleepover she had noticed how cozy it was but now she could feel how home like it was something the Carvajal mansion never was.

On the wall of Juliana´s home there were pictures of her and the family, her parents in law, friends and so much more, a guitar and a few posters of movies and other stuff.

As the kids played on the backyard, Valentina stood in front of a wall with a lot of pictures framed, all of them in black and white one of them got her attention immediately, it was Juliana looking at the Eiffel Tower.

She looked so pretty, with a dreamy look and a soft smile she looked happy.

“It was our first trip to Paris” Juliana said as she stood next to Valentina, holding a glass of water for the CEO, who took it and returned her attention to the wall.

“We had not much money but I had told her I wanted to see the city, so one weekend she appears  at my door with Milo, Harry and Trini, our friends and tells me we are going” Juliana recounted smiling.

“It must have be a fun trip” Valentina said.

“It was, we all put what little money we had, we took the train and first ended in Barcelona, there I met Magdalena, Andrés, Sebastian and Altair for the first time” she pointed to the picture “Natalia took this one, we were on our own the others had chosen to go to sleep in a hostel they had found, they had already being in the city before so when the night came they retired, but I couldn´t sleep, I wanted to see the city so she took me to give me what she called the big tour”.

She then looked at the picture beside hers, it was Natalia, with a guitar singing, some people around her “We had money for train tickets and some cheap food, so we were saving it, but as we walked around I got hungry, she took her guitar and started singing Les Champs-Elysées, that is when I took the picture” Juliana´s expression was one of nostalgia.

“To be honest I didn´t knew what the song was about until she translated to me after she got some money to buy us two cups of cheap coffee and a croissant, we spent all night on the street it wasn´t until dawn that we got to the Eiffel Tower and she took that picture” she closed her eyes like she could go back to that moment and by the smile on her face, Valentina knew that was the case.

“That sound so sweet like a perfect setting for a romantic movie” Valentina said.

Juliana laughed and said “I guess I did have that kind pf love with her, have I told you how we met?” Val shook her head no.

Juliana guided her to the garden where she had set the table for lunch, the kids had already eaten so they could play, so it was only Valentina and her.

“Well I first went to Costa Rica I was there for less than a month, my plan was that I would work, get some savings and then go back to Mexico to study and fix the mess I made with Sergio and you know try to fix things with you”, Valentina raised her eyebrows in surprise, Juliana limited to “But the plan changed when I met Trini, she was this Spanish, middle class girl living on the adventure of being in another country” the woman smiled.

“Before I finished the month Trini told me she was going back to Barcelona for school, but that she wanted me to go with her because she had a job for me, her uncle had a coffee shop and was the owner of a bar in Madrid so he needed a waitress” well now Valentina knew who to blame for Juliana´s absence in her life.

“So I said yes, we fixed everything and I went to Spain I worked at the café, but one night the bar was running low on staff, so Miguel, the owner asked me to do a shift there, I mean it was more money so I say yes, it was about a month after I started working with him” Valentina nodded she guessed that Juliana really needed the money, she wished the girl would had trusted in her and gave her a call or that she would had taken Lupe´s advice and run to get her back.

“So the bar was this place with live music and every Friday they gave amateurs the chance to get on stage” Juliana gave a sigh and then smiled “So here I am in a busy bar, and then I hear her voice” her smile grew wider.

“I didn´t even see her well, she finished singing but she had lend her guitar to another singer, she then forgot about it and left” Juliana laugh as she is back to that place just by recounting the story.

“You know the night is over, the guy comes close to me and tells me that the person who lend him the guitar is no longer at the bar so if I could do him the favor of keeping the guitar if the girl came back” Valentina nodded.

“I did kept the guitar the rest of the night but no one came back until closing time, it was raining outside and the bar was already empty” Juliana continued.

\------------ (Flashback)----------

_The rain was falling heavily outside Juliana could hear the thunder as she picked another chair to punt on top of a table._

_Suddenly Arturo the doorman walked towards her “there is a girl outside she said she left her guitar here” he said, the waitress nodded and walked towards the backroom picking the guitar._

_As she approached the front door she saw the girl with the purple hair, she cleared her throat to get the girl´s attention._

_Immediately Natalia turned to look at her with wide brown eyes and smiling as she saw her guitar case, she made to reach it only for it to be pulled away from her._

_“Tell me what does the case has on the front” Juliana said_

_Natalia raised an eyebrow but she kind of appreciated that this girl wasn´t giving the guitar that easy, after all, it was a present from her grandmother who had passed away recently._

_“Ok, it´s a LGBTQ+ flag sticker, one of The Ramones, another that says I love K.S and a drawing made by yours truly that is a woman warrior” she said with all the confidence._

_She saw the girl check the front and then nod before handing her the guitar._

_“Thank you very much, seriously I don´t know where I have my head these day that I just walked out” Natalia said feeling relieved._

_Juliana smiled kindly at her and nodded “You should be more careful or next time you won´t be so lucky” Natalia nodded and turned to leave but before she did she thanked her again._

_Juliana watched as the girl walked back into the rain._

_\-----End Flashback----_

“And after that you became friends?” asked Valentina as she took a sip of lemonade and turned her attention to the kids playing as a way of not showing her jealousy.

Juliana shook her head “Nope, we didn´t saw each other again until four months later at a gay bar I used to frequent”.

Valentina was surprised to hear that, because in the short time they had been together Juliana had never mentioned her interest in partying, she actually seemed to from that but then again she had actually got drunk and had that thing with Sergio.

Juliana noticed the surprise so she laughed “Me partying had a lot to do with Harold and Trini, they wanted me to explore my wild side, it was fun because I for once felt that I wasn´t living under anyone´s expectations, I guess at that point I understood why you did that”.

“So how did you and Amalia met?” Juliana asked.

Valentina felt uncomfortable but she knew that if Juliana had been sincere she should too.

“At a party, well we knew each other since we were kids, but we didn´t actually had any kind of relationship or anything, Guille used to be friends with her older brother and my dad made business with hers, but that was it” she explained.

Juliana nodded and smiled “That is kind of cute”.

“Not really the day of the party we hooked up and weeks later we were dating” Valentina said a little upset.

“Oh!” Juliana limited to say.

“It was a month after you left, you hadn´t call or texted so I was upset went to the party got drunk and next thing I knew I asked her to follow me to one of the rooms” Valentina couldn´t help it she was upset.

Juliana was now uncomfortable, she felt sad that Valentina had gone though that, it wasn´t like for her it had been easy it had just been different, she had busy the first months with working and making friends, she guessed that even in that she and Val were quite different.

Valentina sighed and softly said “I know it wasn´t your fault, it´s just it was hard, one day I had you and the next you were gone and now I hear you had a happy life and I know I´m selfish but I can´t help but resent you to some level because that life was what I wanted for us” she needed to be sincere to get that out of her chest.

“It´s ok Val, I´m happy you are telling me that because that means you are ready to move on” Juliana said with a small smile, she really didn´t mind that the other woman was upset with her it was something she had expected, though she really thought it wouldn´t be that much after so many years.

Valentina took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, her jaw moving, she didn´t know if she wanted to cry or laugh, so she kept quiet.

“I think you needed that closure and you are right to be upset with me because I didn´t gave it to you when you needed it” Juliana´s voice was calm, she didn´t sound upset.

Valentina looked at her for a second trying to find something, she didn´t knew what until the woman spoke again “I will be here for you as a friend if you have me, it´s the least I can do” the she held her hand out.

Valentina could feel her heart breaking now that she knew what she was looking for, she was hoping for something now she knew she wouldn´t get, she looked at Juliana´s hand and for a moment she wanted to scream at her that she didn´t wanted to be her friend, but the she hear the giggle of her son who was ignorant to what was happening at the table, who was happy for having a friend of his own and she knew she couldn´t screw that for him for her silly hope.

So even with a broken heart and wanting to scream she took the offered hand and smiled, that was the best she could do.

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentina has a conversation with Eva about her situation with Juliana

Eva stared at her sister, it was obvious that what Juliana had told her wasn´t what she wanted to hear, but the older Carvajal understood the designer.

“Val, I mean, what were you expecting?”  She wasn´t reprimanding her younger sister but it was obvious that was going to happen, Juliana had become a widow just the year prior and going by what Valentina had told her about that relationship it was obvious that the designer was nowhere near ready to be with anyone else.

Valentina frowned and looked down and Eva sighed, she didn´t knew what else to tell her anymore.

“The fact that she told me that I should move on” Val said bitterly and then huffed a laugh “Like I hadn´t thought about it before” she moved her jaw in that way she did when she was upset “She just doesn´t understand that is not that easy, that I´m not like her”.

Eva nodded and then said “Maybe you should listen to her, Val, I know you love her but maybe you had been stopping yourself from being happy because you are stuck in a feeling from when you were young” she took a moment before she continued “You need to live your life”.

Valentina sighed lay back on her chair, she knew both Juliana and Eva were right, but for some reason she was afraid of doing that, she was afraid that it wasn´t going to work.

“I´m scare to try it and fail, I already screwed my life once” she said, then ran a hand through her hair and continued “I don´t think I would be able to handle another mistake”.

Eva understood what her little sister mean, so she smiled kindly “You don´t need to be with anyone Val, give yourself time to heal, time to get to know yourself and then maybe someday you will be ready to be with someone else”.

Valentina smiled and nodded, Eva was right she didn´t need to be with anyone she was kind of afraid of being on her own but she knew she needed that time she needed to know who she really was, because she was damn sure she wasn´t the workaholic, stuck in a crappy marriage, she wanted to see who she really was.

“I think I will try” she finally said, Eva smiled bigger.

They spoke about some other things before it was time for Valentina to go, she couldn´t wait for Eva to be finally free and they were working on.

She knew one of the first things she had to do was the most difficult one, divorce Amalia wasn´t going to be easy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentina is ready to start a new chapter and Amalia makes a choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so just to let you know next chapter will have a time jump and we will find out about Juliana and Natlia´s plan to raise Esme.

The papers were right in front of her, she stared at them like they were going to burst into flames, she than looked up at her wife, who looked like a child who had given their parent a failed test or something.

Her jaw tightened before she looked back at her wife “So your plan is getting a divorce so you can run to the arms of your ex-girlfriend?” Amalia was pissed and she didn´t knew if it was because of the paper or because Valentina had been the one making the first move.

The CEO sighed and shook her head “This has nothing to do with Juliana, this is about me, I can´t keep doing this, I can keep living like this”.

Amalia knew Valentina was right living like this wasn´t living even her with her constant traveling and affairs, she was miserable, but she couldn´t bring herself to admit that she was just like her parents that she too had failed.

“I´m not going to sign them” she said getting up and walking towards the main door leaving the papers on the coffee table.

Valentina took a deep breath she knew this was going to happen, so she didn´t even made the attempt of following her wife.

Amalia knew Valentina didn´t loved her, but she couldn´t bring herself to sign the papers. It wasn´t because she loved her, to be honest after getting the girl she had crushed on when she was a teen wasn´t exactly what she expected, it was just that she didn´t wanted to fail, she didn´t wanted to prove that her family that she was like them.

She drove around the city for a while until she found herself outside her apartment building, she parked and went to her penthouse.

After all this years she hadn´t sold the place, she used to live there before she and Valentina had gotten married, at first she was going to put it back in the market but then she had noticed what was up with Valentina and she had just decided to keep it for whatever happened in the future.

To be honest if Valentina had asked her back then for a divorce she would had actually signed the papers now it was more a thing about pride than anything else.

She took a glass of whisky and sat down near the window.

She had been so afraid of being like her mother and here she was being her dad, sleeping around with other women, the difference was that Valentina didn´t care.

Amalia huffed a laugh and felt the tears prickling her eyes, that night so long ago when she had seen Valentina again at Sergio´s party, she felt again like her silly 13 year old, love-struck by the youngest of the Carvajal family.

Then the girl had paid attention to her and had spent the night together, she had been stupid and weak she had let her stupid teen feelings.

At first she had tried to win over her wife, she had been proud of being Valentina Carvajal´s wife, she knew they were going to fast just after a month of “dating” if she could call what they had done that, they had gotten engaged, just a few weeks after Valentina had returned from Europe and had prompted her of marrying as fast as they could, no explanation.

Amalia had to admit that she was foolish enough to believe that it was because the other woman was so taken by her, but she was sure that whatever had happened in that trip had prompted her to marry her.

Just after marrying Valentina had stopped pretending and had slowly but surely build a wall around herself and before she knew it they were nothing but roommates.

After hours of indulging in her pain, the one she had kept hidden from everyone, she thought about everything, about the options she had.

She could deny the divorce, keep being married and bitter herself until her last breath or she could just sign the damn papers and move on, try to find someone who would actually love and care for her, someone who didn´t saw her as their second option.

She rubbed her face with her hands and ran them through her hair.

She wanted to be happy but she was afraid that one divorce would take her to another like it had happened with her mother.

\--

It was almost 3 a.m when she returned to the Carvajal mansion, the lights were off, another sign that she has never being welcomed in that house.

She went into Valentina´s office and did what she had to do.

\--

The next morning Valentina entered her office after breakfast, León was outside playing in the pool.

As she got closer to her desk she saw the envelope that contained the divorce papers lying empty in the side for a second she freaked out until she saw the papers on the middle of the desk, a note on top of them.

She hadn´t seen Amalia that morning she didn´t even knew if the woman had spent the night at the house.

She too the note and read it:

_Dear Valentina, I guess it’s time for me to admit defeat, I wanted to make this more interesting, be more dramatic and I admit that for a second I was, but to be honest I think both of us know that is not worthy that is why a signed the papers._

_I hope that you find what you are looking for either if it is with Juliana or someone else I have come to admit that even you deserve happiness –_ This made Valentina laugh a little – _good luck with life and don´t worry I won´t ask for anything and you can have full custody of León, after all he is not my kid so I won´t fight for him._

She sat there stunned, before checking the papers that were indeed signed, so she pulled her phone from her pocket and wrote a simple “thank you” the response was almost immediate “you´re welcome”.

That was it they were done, ten years of marriage were over, Valentina didn´t really knew why she was crying, was it because she was somehow sad, was it because she felt relief or was it because she was finally starting to move on.

She certainly didn’t knew but as afraid as she was, she was ready to face whatever was coming her way and she knew that more changes would be made as she started the next chapter of her life.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another conversation between Valentina and Juliana and the plans Natalia and Juliana had for Esme changed a bit.

León walked in throwing his back pack on in the main hall, Silvina and Valentina looked at the little boy, as he rushed upstairs.

“León!” Valentina called but the little boy ignored her, she turned to look at the driver who shrugged, before leaving.

Valentina looked at Silvina and followed her son.

When she walked into his room, León was crying his arms wrapped around his pillow.   
She knocked softly on the door and then walked in to sit on his bed.

“What happened?” she asked softly as she patted his back as she used to do when he was a baby, he raised his head only to cry harder. 

Valentina pulled him into her arms, he was getting so big, now he was seven years old, she couldn´t believe it, she still saw him like that little bundle that was given to her the day she had given birth.

“Hey!.. What´s wrong?” she said rubbing his back and kissing the top of his hair.

“Esme…” he said hiccupping, his mother frowned, had she fought again?

“What happened?” she said as she kept rubbing circles on his back, the last year had been rough for León, he sometimes acted up because he was upset about the divorce and about Amalia leaving, because even when they didn´t had the best relationship she was a constant in his life.

She was worried he would ended up pushing his friends away so hearing that he had fought with the girl again it make her fear that it was starting.

“She said she is leaving at the end of this school year” he said, his voice sounded so tiny.

It took a moment for Valentina to register what he had said, until it hit her.  
“What?” she asked.

He looked at her and explained “She said she is going back to Spain and she will not return until probably we start high school”, his eyes filled with tears again.

Valentina hugged him tightly, her heart clenching, Juliana and Esme were planning of leaving, but why?

Esme seemed happy and Juliana was working fine, so why they were planning to leave.

She lay with León until he fell asleep, before she got up and asked Silvina to keep an eye on him, as she had a meeting with a client.

Through the meeting Valentina couldn´t concentrate, though she got the client to sign the contract, but she was still thinking about Juliana and Esme.

As she drove back to her house she chose to call Juliana, she needed to talk with the woman, over the past year they had become friends again and she didn´t want to lose her again.

As she arrived to the house she second guessed herself, what was she supposed to tell the girl, what was she supposed to say ? Don´t go? Let´s give us another chance?

She couldn´t ask Juliana not to leave after all they had nothing between them and she couldn´t ask for another chance when Juliana had made it clear the previous year that they didn´t would have anything other than friendship between them.

She sat in her truck lost in thought, that she didn´t noticed the front door opening or the designer coming out of her home a curious expression on her face.

That was why she jumped when the woman knocked on the window, making her smile.  
“Do you just like stalking people in their drive way?” she asked.

Valentina´s brain was having a hard time to connect between being distracted and Juliana looking beautiful even in an oversized sweater, it was November and the weather was pretty cold, the woman´s hair was up in a messy bun ad she had no makeup on.

“Ah, no, I wasn´t…I mean, how did you knew I was out here?” the CEO dumbly asked.

“Well let´s see the headlights of your truck are on and the security guard told me prior that and you called me too, I just came to check that you hadn´t suddenly died for the excitement of seeing me” the woman said in a serious yet playful way.

“Come in I will make you a cup of coffee” she added opening the door of the truck.

Valentina walked into the house, once again feeling that homey feeling it had the fireplace was on, the wall with the pictures was still there when she had been there she had never really see much of the house except for the porch, the wall and the backyard.

On the wall  above the fireplace was the screen where the menu of a streaming service was on and on the top were a few more pictures.

“Go sit I will bring the coffee and cookies”  Juliana said as she made her way to the kitchen.

The open space made it easy for Juliana to keep communication with her guests , Valentina looked around she could see the stairs, according to León all bedrooms where upstairs it was a total of five.

She then turned her attention to the pictures on top of the fireplace.

There was one of Juliana riding a horse, there was another that looked like a Christmas picture, it was all of Natalia’s family together, Juliana was in it she was between Milo and the youngest brother Sebastian the three were smiling.

“That was my first Christmas with them” Juliana said as she placed a tray with the cups of coffee and cookies.

“It was way before we even started dating and we called each other friends” she said smiling and sitting down on the couch.

Valentina moved to sit next to her then asked “ How long it took you guys to date?” she was confused she was pretty sure Juliana had started dating Natalia right away and right after she had arrived to Spain, that was the whole point of Valentina hooking up with Amalia and proposing.

Juliana thought for a second and said “About one and a half years maybe two years after we met”.

Valentina felt her heart beating fast, she was confused.

“Are you ok?” Juliana asked as she saw the CEO stand up and walk back towards the fireplace.

“It doesn’t make sense, Lupe told me you were interested in someone” she took a deep breath, “I went to see you and saw you with someone else about three months after you left” she continued.

The designer looked at her and then frowned “You went looking for me?”  
Valentina only nodded.

“Well Lupe was wrong, I did date someone prior to dating Natalia, but it was about six months after I got to Spain and after I found out you had gotten married” she explained.

Valentina shook her head and let out a bitter laugh “I’m an idiot” she said as she sat back down.

Juliana nodded and then laughed at the narrowed eyes she got.

“You don’t get it a week before my wedding I got cold feet and then I spoke with Lupe she was worried you would stay in Spain if I went through with the marriage” Valentina said she was still narrowing her eyes at the bemused expression she got.

Juliana made a motion with her hand to let her know she should continue, so the CEO kept telling her story.

“I got there went to the building you were living and I saw you walking out of there with your arm around some blonde girl” Valentina couldn’t help it even after all this time she was upset.

The other woman raised an eyebrow “So you were really there” she mused.

Valentina looked at her as she had turned her attention to the fireplace .  
“What?” she asked.

Juliana smiled sadly and then said “I saw you, but at the time I thought it was me fabricating  it, you know? Just wishful thinking”.

“No, I was there and if you had told me not to get married and stay with you I would had done it”.

After that confession they both sat there quietly until Juliana spoke again.

“Well I guess it doesn’t do well to hold onto the past, things happened for a reason for example you got Leo and I got my wife and my daughter something I wouldn’t change for anything”.

Valentina frowned and then softly asked “You had never thought about how our life would had been if we were together?”, then she continued in a more desperate tone “I mean Esme would had been mine and Leo would had been your we would had raise them together, we would had gotten married and Lupe and you would had a good relationship”.

Juliana shook her head no and  then spoke “Esme wouldn’t be who she is if she had been yours and Leo wouldn’t be who he is if he had been mine” she saw Valentia get up and walk towards the fireplace, the designer decided to talk again “I did thought about a future with you that is why I left  I wanted to have something to offer to you but I guess we were just not men to be”.

This broke Valentina’s heart even more and just further proved that she couldn’t ask Juliana to stay and that Eva was right she had hold on for too long to a youngster fantasy.

“I guess you are right” she said as she looked back at the designer who gave her  a sad nod.

She sat back down on the couch next to the woman that was her first real love.

“I mean after all you will leave again, I feel that should be my sign” she spoke softly she saw the other woman rise her eyebrows.

“That is why I came here León is sad because Esme will go back to Spain next year and her will be left alone, you know this whole year has been his best school year”.

Juliana nodded “Yeah, the plan was for her to finish primary school in México and then we would go back for secondary and High School to Spain”.

Then she continued to explain the plan Natalia and her had for Esme “the plan was I would travel for a few days at time to open the store , but now all our plans had changed”.

Valentina realized then that Juliana and Natalia had all their life planned together it hurt a lot.

“I mean, we may com back as I do plan to open another store here but as of right now its easier for both of us to go back as I work on the London and Madrid Stores” the designer finished.

Valentina sighed and said “I guess he has to accept that, its just that is hard for him to lose his best friend” and in her mind she added “its hard for me to lose you again”.

Juliana sighed and the let out a huff of laugh “Jeez, you Carvajal’s love to be dramatic” the CEO looked at her with a confused expression.

“He is invited for the holidays and summer to come over if he wants and we will try to do the same and come back during the breaks, it won’t be the same but it will be ok  “ she said smiling.

“I didn’t thought about that” Valentina wanted to smack herself for not actually think about it.

Juliana laughed and said  “I guessed you hadn’t”.

After that they talked for a while about how they would work through that until it was time for Valentina to leave.

As she drove back home she knew that at least one of the Carvajal’s wasn’t mean to lose  a Váldes.  
 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val and Juls have a coffee together and a waitress flirting reveals more about Juliana´s life in Spain.

As the time months progressed and the date for the trip to Spain came closer, Juliana had found herself to be busier, making sure everything was taken care of.

So Valentina decided she needed a moment of relax and that they should meet for a coffee, something the designer was thankful for.

As they sat outside to enjoy the warm of that Saturday afternoon Juliana couldn´t help but notice the cute waitress failing to flirt with an oblivious Valentina; she had to keep herself from bursting out laughing when for a third time the young woman came to their table to ask if they didn´t need anything with a hopeful look in her eyes and the CEO just dismissed her with an annoyed expression.

Finally she took pity out of the poor waitress and said to her companion “She is flirting with you, you know?”

Valentina looked up from her phone and with a completely confused expression said “What?!”

Juliana laughed again and explained “The cute waitress that is why she has been coming over so often”.

Valentina looked over to were said waitress was talking to the  barista inside the coffee shop.

“She could be my daughter” she sentenced causing the designer to burst out laughing.

“”Yeah she could be your kid if you had gotten pregnant at 12” she rolled her eyes and kept on talking, “come on Val she must be around 20 so don´t try to play that card” Juliana said.

Valentina shook her head “I just got a divorce I don´t need a relationship”.

“Who said anything about a relationship?” Juliana raised her eyebrows “I mean I had some  hookups before dating Jemima  and  a few more before I dated and married Nat” she said before taking a sip of her coffee.

The other woman looked at her, she was finally seeing another die of Juliana, not the angry-hurt, scared teenage girl she had met, a girl who hadn´t even had sex before meeting her, this was a much older more confident Juliana.

“You had hookups?” she was amazed by that detail.

“I did, cute girls nothing serious” she shrugged.

“Only girls?” Valentina couldn´t help it, she needed to know, what happened with Sergio had been a completely confusing thing for her.

“Yep, I figured out I was a full blown lesbian after Sergio, like that was…” she made a face like she was going to throw up and then added “Never again, thank you, worst experience of my life, but hey! at least now  I know that I shouldn´t listen to Lupe” she finished with a humorous laugh.

This made Valentina laugh “He will love to hear that”.

“Don´t worry I will tell him if I ever see him again and that he should stop preying on confused girls if he wants to be a friend” the designer said taking another sip of her coffee.

Valentina raised both eyebrows she had to admit that she had never spoken with Sergio about it but now she felt like she should know more about it, then something else called her attention.

“Who is Jemima?” She asked.

“Jemima Pelletier, she is my ex and Esme´s godmother” Juliana said as she finished her coffee.

“You made your ex your kid´s godmother,  what did Natalia said?” Valentina asked as it sounded crazy what kind of person did that.

“She was ok with it because Jem was her best friend since they were babies, that was actually how we ended up hanging out together and eventually dating which was way after Jem and I broke up just to clarify” Juliana told her.

“I swear your story with Natalia is way more interesting than anything I find on streaming” Valentina said taking in the info, Juliana just laughed.

“Wait, why does the nickname and the last name sound familiar?” Valentina asked.

“Maybe because she is a known french supermodel”, Valentina was sure her jaw had hit the floor, just then the waitress came back.

Juliana noticing how uncomfortable Val was asked for the check.

They made their way to the Carvajal group parking lot, Valentina always chose the coffee shop because how close it was to her office and because people rarely bothered her, but now with the waitress she might had to change her mind.

As they arrived to the lot Valentina bit her lip, she didn´t wanted to part ways just yet, but she knew it was time.

She stood next to her truck and then looked for Juliana´s car, up until now she didn´t knew what kind of car it was but looked like one of those classic cars.

“Didn´t you brought your car?” she asked, just then she noticed Juliana taking the helmet from one of the handles of a Harley, she knew it was a Harley for the logo.

“Nah!, the day was to pretty so I left my Mercury at home and took my girl for a ride” she smiled as she put the helmet on.

If Valentina had been keeping herself from drooling over  Juliana´s outfit that consisted  black leather jacket, some vintage concert grey t-shirt, ripped jeans and biker boots, while they were at the coffee sure she wasn´t that sure she could help herself right now, just then the sound of the engine brought her out of her day dream.

“Well I see you later and don´t avoid the cute waitress” she said the last part in a teasing tone, before winking and the driving out of the parking lot.

Valentina stood there smiling actually happy for the teasing it was nice to at least have Juliana as a friend and she was looking forward to get to know this new version of the girl.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Esme makes a discovery about her mother past

“Mom!” Esme said as she walked into her mother´s studio, she had been checking Valentina´s IG and had come to a very interesting picture.

Juliana looked from her drafting table towards her kid, who was giving her the ´raised eyebrow, I´m quite curious´ look, like the one her wife used to give her whenever she wanted to know more about her.

“Yes?!” she asked.

“Can I ask why there is a picture of you and León´s mom from about 11 years ago?” the seven year old asked.

Juliana frowned for a second as trying to register what her kid mean until the little girl put her tablet up showing said picture.

It was from Guille´s birthday party, Juliana smiled remembering that day and then looked at her kid.

“Yes, I used to be friends with Leo´s mom, we actually dated she was my first girlfriend or something of the likes we actually never settle what we were” she explained, Esme moved to sit on the couch that was in the room and patted the place beside her with a little smile.

Juliana couldn´t help it she smiled back and went to sit with her; that was something else Esme shared with Natalia, the way they made her open up.

“Tell me the story” the little girl asked, making her mom sigh but the lean back.

She told her all she could, she had always being sincere with her daughter, sometimes people thought she and Natalia spoke to Esme like they were speaking to an adult and it was almost true, if they kept certain things from her they would explain to her why they did it, but mostly they tried to tell her everything.

She told her how she had met Valentina.

_“I was walking down the street just right after getting to Mexico and I saw her fighting with her boyfriend” she told Esme how Lucho had acted and the little one shared her view on that “He sounds like a prick” which made Juliana raise her eyebrows and then pointed out how Esme shouldn´t say that out loud at school or she would get in trouble and how she would speak with her aunts and uncles about how they shouldn´t say such things to her._

_Then she told her about their first conversation making her daughter laugh loudly because of the prank she played on Valentina, they definitely shared the dark humor._

_She told her about the party, about the bad people who took her mom which made Esme scared a bit, about their first kiss which made the little girl smile and tease her mom about it by humming Kiss the Girl, making the woman roll her eyes._

_She told her a light version about how Lupe found out and how she rejected her, she saw the expression on her daughter face, the deep breath she took and how she shook her head, before she said she hoped her grandmother had changed her mind and outgrew her ignorance._

_She decided not to say anything about the transmigration, as it would be a bit complicated._

_She too told her an even lighter version about Sergio and her kidnap and how Lucho had sadly died due to her being taken away, all the time she pay attention to how her kid reacted she bit her lip and said she didn´t like Sergio and that she was sorry about Lucho, but that it wasn´t her mom´s fault, it seemed like her kid knew her better than anyone else cause for a long time she had felt guilty about his dead._

“I´m sorry it didn´t work between you and Leo´s mom” she pouted and lay her head on her mom´s shoulder.

Juliana smiled and hugged her “I used to feel sorry too, but  at the same time I´m thankful as it made me grow and brought me to your mom and eventually you”.

The two sat there for a while before Esme spoke again.

“You think you guy can get together again?” she asked.

Her mom sighed and answered “I don´t know, I don´t think so it has been only two years since I lost your mom and I don´t think that I´m ready and to be honest I don´t think I will be ready in a really long time”.

Esme moved a bit away and held her mom´s face between her tiny hands “You know mommy would had prompt you to heal and go back to the game right?”, Juliana smiled and nodded.

“Just promise me that if you feel ready you will tell me so I can ready too” Esme said shyly, she had met kids who had lost a parent or their parents had gotten divorce and then out of the blue they had a step-parent and had affected them a lot.

Juliana looked at her daughter and truthfully promised “Of course!, we are a team kid and I would never do anything without telling you before” she held off her hand and Esme took it with a smile giving it a firm shake. 


End file.
